Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville

Recognizing that healing goes beyond the bedside, Northeast Georgia Medical System’s goal was to create outdoor environments that promote hope and healing for patients and families, visitors, staff, and the Gainesville Georgia community at large. Northeast Georgia Medical System hired HGOR to create a comprehensive landscape master plan for its Gainesville campus to reflect the thirteen counties served by the community hospital The concepts, designs, and materials focused on creating comfort, safety and a healing environment.

The plan greets the community and visitors at the entrance with a celebration of the region’s landscape vernacular. The entrance feature employs indigenous stonework, native plant palettes and a waterfall traversing the central island of the entrance drive. HGOR also carried the landscape theme into several pocket gardens across the campus to serve as Donor Gardens. The planning for the four gardens began in tandem with the initial planning for the North Patient Tower; the foundation evaluated and identified outdoor destinations to enhance the campus but also to offer opportunities for signature gift-naming. Another notable feature of the gardens overall is in the dozens of plants used throughout—promote health and healing in simple ways. For example, old-fashioned or heirloom plants are catalysts for positive association of a childhood memory, while new and unusual plants might spark curiosity and closer examination—both results that can translate to feelings of relaxation, safety, and comfort The gardens offer opportunities for benefactors to leave a lasting legacy while providing special outdoor respites in which visitors can relax and enjoy. HGOR compiled all of the concepts into an inspirational guide book for the hospital’s future donor.

SIMILAR PROJECTS